Special high res cheapo digital camera

UK
Aria is selling a 6.6 megapixels digital camera for only £49+VAT. The camera is manufactured by O'rite and is known as the VC3260. As you might guess, the 6.6 MP resolution is obtained by interpolation. The image sensor in fact is a 3.2MP CMOS but Orite claims that the image resolution can reach up to 2976x2232.

It has a 4x digital zoom, a 1.5in LCD TFT display, built-in TV Out/Microphone and 16MB memory inbuilt with external SD/MMC card support. Bucking a trend in the ijdustry, this one does offer an optical viewfinder to complement the LCD display. The VC3260 can also record movie with audio in standard AVI 320x240 format. Many control features are offered ranging from exposure metering/control/compensation to white balance and sharpness. Accessories is pretty sparse with a USB cable, Roxio Photosuite and Videowave and two AA batteries.

A multidirectional button allows you to easily navigate in the menu. The camera itself is well built and though the plastic finish betrays it, the VC3260 is probably worth more than its price. A similar model from Trust - the Powercam 913 is on sale on Ebay for £73.35.

An image sample taken at 3MP is available here, albeit from a different O'rite digital camera. µ

USA
Who knew that Gateway, the ex-bovine company, sold digital cameras? Not me. The RW9600-256D http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1026977&Tab=2&NoMapp=0 DC-T50 is one of the higher spec digital camera from Gateway. It is a refurbished model which, while costing only $150, offers the same guarantee and after sales as new models. Last year, the same camera had a direct price of $400.

In fact, the DC-T50 is a relabelled Toshiba PDR-5300. The DC-T50 offers a solid metal casing which might attract those wanting to steer away from cheap-looking cameras. It offers a 5.25 MP CCD image sensor - with a five MP effective resolution at 2560x1920 pxiels, a 3x Optical zoom with a fast F2.8 aperture and advanced noise reduction technology and a full range of manual control, very unlikely to be found in this range of price. On top of that a 4x Digital zoom gives it a combined zoom of 12x.

It can also do AVI movies at up to 15fps and includes a 32MB secure digital card. Also in the lot is a battery charger and rechargeable Li-Ion batteries. The DC-T50 is tiny compared to other same resolution cameras. It will easily fit in a shirt pocket. A video output, an optical viewfinder and a LCD monitor will assist you in viewing your photos before and after shooting.

Even if quality wise other cameras best it, they will do it at a price. Sample pictures can be found RW9600-256D http://www.steves-digicams.com/2004_reviews/t50_samples.html here. µ

Singapore
The O'rite iCam DV2200 is a MPEG4 Digital Video Processor camera, unlike the usual models like the Aiptek DV2 that you might encounter elsewhere - which offer only standard AVI recording. As such, the image quality and resolution is higher - up to 640x480. The DV2200 also separates it from the rest by offering some nice features like a 2.1 megapixel CMOS sensor, a lithium-ion rechargeable battery and more importantly perhaps a superb black body case which makes it look more like an expensive top of the range camera rather than a cheapo one.

The DV2200 can hold 10 minutes of film at 640x480 pixels and up to 232 1600x1200 pixels still images on a 128MB card. As for its dimensions, it is slightly larger than a box of cigarettes and at 113g will easily fit in your pocket.

Accessories include Video Impression and Photo Impression software, AC Adaptor and the usual product case. Note that the DV2200 does not have any zoom - digital or electronic but has a shutter speed down to 1/1000 s. The camera is on sale at S$99 during the present COMEX computer fair at Topuniversal. It does represent fantastic value for money. A slightly more advanced model, the Pocket DV4 from Aiptek costs £99 in UK, thrice the price. For some sample pictures and images from the Aiptek model - which should be close to the DV2200, click here. µ

France
BTC is known mainly for its cheap and cheerful optical components. Now it has added digital cameras to their lists of products. The DSC3312x, on sale at hersys for €89 is not unlike the VC3260 proposed above. Same specs and almost same construction. The DSC3312x also features a 3.2MP CMOS sensor with a maximum resolution of 6.6 MP. Also on the specs list is a 4X digital zoom and the Video clip movie mode. It provides only 8MB internal memory though, only good for a few seconds of video or a dozen of high ersolution photos. TV Out and USB ports are present as is the LCD panel. The DSC3312x supports the usual SD card and aside from the camera pouch gives you only a couple of essential accessories. Software package is limited to DVD picture show and Photo Explorer. µ